"Excellence must be pursued — it must be wooed with all of one's might and every effort that we have. Each day there is a new encounter. Each week there is a new challenge. In all of the display and in all of the noise and all of the glamour and all of the color and all of the excitement and all of the rings and all of the money, these are the things that only linger in the memory. But the spirit — the will to excel; the will to win, these are the things that endure."

After those inspiring words by the late-great coach Vince Lombardi played over the loudspeaker, screaming hordes of fans were released onto the field amid blazing pyrotechnics at the start of the show. And then Beyonce made her entrance, ascending dramatically in silhouette on a solitary platform.

Kicking things off with an intro tease for "Love on Top," Beyonce started her set in earnest with performances of "Crazy In Love," "End of Time" and "Baby Boy" as periodic aerial kaleidoscopic images of the singer and her slew of backup dancers dazzled viewers. She was soon joined by her Destiny's Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for "Independent Women" and "Single Ladies." The much-rumored reunion marked the first time the trio had performed live in nearly a decade.

Taking the stage about two weeks after her performance at President Obama's Inauguration was revealed to be aided by a backing track, the singer left no doubt that her she was singing live for at least the majority of her performance on Sunday.

Check out Beyonce's halftime performance below. What did you think? Did she and the rest of Destiny's Child live up to the hype?